Numerous types of electronic devices and components are implemented by one or more ICs, and thus it is a necessity for ICs to possess physical and electrical characteristics with a high degree of precision. However, the characteristics of ICs may fluctuate due to external factors such as temperature and manufacture variations. To compensate for such variabilities, trimming techniques have been introduced where the characteristics of ICs are altered in order to deliver the perfonnance as promised in the IC specifications.
A common trimming approach is to measure and record particular characteristics of each IC under different operating conditions, to thereby determine an optimal trim setting, and to burn the optimal setting into a fuse so that the characteristics of each IC could be optimally maintained irrespective of different operating conditions. Nonetheless, the conventional trimming process would require additional fuse usage. The higher the degree of precision on the characteristics of each IC is specified, the more the fuse usage for recording the measurements and manufacturing cost are required.